Origins Origins of the BSCS 5E Instructional Model can be traced to the philosophy and psychology of
the early 20th century and Johann Herbart. His psychology of learning can be synthesized into an
instructional model that begins with students’ current knowledge and their new ideas that relate
to the current knowledge. The connections between prior knowledge and new ideas slowly form
concepts. According to Herbart, the best pedagogy allows students to discover relationships
among their experiences. The next step involves direct instruction where the teacher
systematically explains ideas that the student could not be expected to discover. Finally, the
teacher provides opportunities for the student to demonstrate their understanding.
In the 1930s an instructional model based on John Dewey’s “complete act of thought”
philosophy gained popularity. The instructional model includes: sense a perplexing situation,
clarify the problem, formulate a hypothesis, test the hypothesis, revise tests, and act on solutions.
The primary purpose of the review of instructional models proposed by individuals such as
Herbart and Dewey is to point out that the fact that such teaching models are not new; there were
earlier models similar in philosophy and psychology to the BSCS 5E Instructional Model.
The BSCS model is a direct descendant of the Atkin and Karplus learning cycle proposed in the
early 1960s and used in the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS). The Atkin and
Karplus learning cycle used the terms exploration, invention, and discovery. These terms were
later modified to: exploration, term introduction, and concept application. At BSCS we added an
initial phase designed to engage the learner’s prior knowledge and a final phase to evaluate the
student’s understanding.
Welcome to the 5E Wiki
We will use this space to share ideas for lessons using the 5 E model
Accessing the KISD site: http://kisd.nerdeveloper.netKISD CScope
OriginsOrigins of the BSCS 5E Instructional Model can be traced to the philosophy and psychology of
the early 20th century and Johann Herbart. His psychology of learning can be synthesized into an
instructional model that begins with students’ current knowledge and their new ideas that relate
to the current knowledge. The connections between prior knowledge and new ideas slowly form
concepts. According to Herbart, the best pedagogy allows students to discover relationships
among their experiences. The next step involves direct instruction where the teacher
systematically explains ideas that the student could not be expected to discover. Finally, the
teacher provides opportunities for the student to demonstrate their understanding.
In the 1930s an instructional model based on John Dewey’s “complete act of thought”
philosophy gained popularity. The instructional model includes: sense a perplexing situation,
clarify the problem, formulate a hypothesis, test the hypothesis, revise tests, and act on solutions.
The primary purpose of the review of instructional models proposed by individuals such as
Herbart and Dewey is to point out that the fact that such teaching models are not new; there were
earlier models similar in philosophy and psychology to the BSCS 5E Instructional Model.
The BSCS model is a direct descendant of the Atkin and Karplus learning cycle proposed in the
early 1960s and used in the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS). The Atkin and
Karplus learning cycle used the terms exploration, invention, and discovery. These terms were
later modified to: exploration, term introduction, and concept application. At BSCS we added an
initial phase designed to engage the learner’s prior knowledge and a final phase to evaluate the
student’s understanding.